RADU MARIAN & ARS ANTIQUA AUSTRIA – EN

Radu Marian

Born 1977 in the former Soviet Republic of Moldavia.

Sopranist

A miracle of nature produced the extraordinary, unique voice of Radu Marian. He comes from a family of artists. His precocious musical talent was first recognized in public at the International Festival of Creation, Moscow, 1989 where he took the Laureate prize.

In 1990, at the age of 13, he was awarded the first prize at the Extraordinary Talents International Festival at Chisinau. After which his concert career flourished while he continued studying piano with Angela Neaga and canto with Maya Severin in the Republican College of Music. In 1995 he began canto master classes at the Academy of Music, Bucharest.

Radu Marian moved to Italy in 1999 at the age of 22. He continued his studies at the St. Giacomo Chapel, Rome under the supervision of Maestro Flavio Colusso, and it was with Calusso that he performed the unabridged operas of Giacomo Carissimi throughout Europe. In 2000 he made his first, acclaimed recording «Alia Vox» for Musicaimmagine accompanied by the Seicentonovecento Ensemble.

Shortly thereafter he made his operatic debut with Nicola Sani and Lucio Gtregoretti ’s opera il Gioco del Mostei for the Academy of St. Cecilia at the Valle Theatre, Rome.

Radu Marian is a regular guest at some most prestigious European music Festivals. He has performed at the Festival die due Mondi d Spoleto, at the Avignon Festival and the Vilnius Festival. He has also performed at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Vienna, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, at the Maestranza Theatre, Seville, the Oratorio del Gonfalone, Rome, the Hermitage Theatre, St. Petersburg and the Galina Vishnevskaya Theatre, Moscow.

In April 2010 Radu Marian was singing at the Festival dedicated to the 200-th anniversary of Castrato Venanzio Rauzzini’s death in the UK.

Ars Antiqua Austria

Ensemble for new Baroque Music
director: Gunar Letzbor

Ars Antiqua Austria was founded in Linz in 1989 with the aim of introducing audiences to the roots of specifically Austrian baroque music played on period-instruments. The music performed at the imperial court in Vienna at this period shows the strong influence of Italy and later of French forms, while Spanish court ceremonials also shape the character of the works. The typical Austrian sound of the period also betrays the influence of the many Crownlands. The political and social boundaries of Austria in the baroque era were far wider than in the 20th century. Elements of Slav and Hungarian folk music mingle with alpine sounds and can be heard in the art music of the period. The Austrian sound also reflects the temperament and character of the Austrians of that period – a unifying element in the melting-pot of many different cultures: the joie de vivre of the South, Slav melancholy, French formality, Spanish pomp and the Alpine character of the German-speaking regions. This fusion of court- with folk music and a strong element of dance music form the typical Austrian sound.

The core of Ars Antiqua Austria comprises 8 musicians directed by Gunar Letzbor. The ensemble is readily augmented to accommodate a still wider repertoire..

During its early years ARS ANTIQUA AUSTRIA gave numerous concerts while researching the achievements of Austria`s baroque composers in depth. Thanks to Gunar Letzbor’s unflagging commitment, many works received their first performance in modern times. Enthusiastic reviews welcomed CDs of music by Weichlein, Biber, Conti (together with the mezzosoprano Bernarda Fink), Viviani, Mealli, Arnold, Caldara, Aufschnaiter, Vilsmayr, Vejvanovsky, Schmelzer, Muffat, Hochreither, Mouthon, Radolt, Aumann and of course J.S.Bach.

In 2002 Ars Antiqua Austria commenced a cycle of concerts in the Vienna Konzerthaus on the theme of Austrian Baroque music, since 2008 also in the Brucknerhaus Linz. Beginning in 2001 the ensemble is playing a leading part in a concert series with more than 90 concerts called “Sound of Cultures – Culture of Sound”. Ten different programmes will being repeated in Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, Cracow, Venice, Ljubljana, Mechelen, Budapest and Lübeck.

Recent tours have taken the ensemble to the Festival de la Musique Baroque at Ribeauville; Berlin Festival of Ancient Music; Festival Printemps des Arts at Nantes; Mozartfest at Würzburg with an opera production together with Michael Schopper; Tage alter Musik at Herne; Festival de Musique de Clisson et de Loire Atlantique; Folles Journées de Nantes and Tokyo; Musée d’Unterlinden Colmar; Monteverdi Festival Cremona; Festival Baroque du Sablon; Salzburger Festspiele; Vlandern Festival; Festival Bach de Lausanne; Bologna Festival; Vendsyssel Festival; Concerti della Normale Pisa; Resonanzen Wien; Klangbogen Wien; Mafestivall Brügge…